


Lonely Little Kitten

by idareu2bme



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Needs a Hug, Akuma Attack, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cat Chat Noir, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Identity Reveal, Not Beta Read, Poor Adrien, Yikes, unbetaed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-03-14 06:51:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13584621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idareu2bme/pseuds/idareu2bme
Summary: “Why are you still a kitten?” she asked knowing full-well that Chat was entirely unlikely to be able to answer. Chat the kitten, stared up at her with wide, green eyes. He looked a little disoriented. Ladybug imagined that it must be quite strange to be a person trapped in a kitten’s body.----Miraculous Ladybug sets everything right after an akuma attack --everything except Chat Noir, that is. Now, Ladybug must figure out how to get Chat Noir, currently stuck in the form of an adorable, little black kitten, back to himself. Takes place in the future as a slightly-aged up, canon-divergence fic. I haven't seen season two.





	1. Protectrice

 

  
  


Ladybug landed in a crouch on the stone street to the sound of villainous cackling. She peered up through narrowed eyes at the scene before her. A large, masked, akumatized woman dressed all in khaki-green wearing a strange tiara with cat ears was brandishing a long-handled net. Civilians as well as a great many cats and dogs were all running away in various directions as the woman chased after them with her net.

  
  


“Ladybug,” exclaimed the woman upon noticing her arrival. “I am Protectrice, Queen of the Strays!”

  
  


“Here we go,” sighed LadyBug, rolling her eyes.

  
  


“I am here on behalf of the lonely pets of Paris; the pets once loved but then abandoned,” continued the woman. “Today is the day of reckoning for all you fickle people who leave your pets out in the cold. You choose to have a pet only while it is convenient, now you will learn how it feels to be lost and alone! Ladybug, give me your miraculous!”

  
  


“Day of _reckoning_?” laughed Chat Noir. “Purrrhaps ‘ _P_ _unisseur_ ’ would have been a better choice of name!” he said to her with a smirk. His sudden appearance at Ladybug's side would have startled her except that his arrival was often silent and sudden and she had grown accustomed to it after years of working with him.

  
  


Ladybug hummed her agreement.  
  
“Hey Kitty,” she said with a small smile before glaring up at ‘Protectrice’, yo-yo at the ready. “You ready to take this _problem pet_ back to the pound?”

  
  


“After you, M’lady,” came Chat’s familiar reply.

  
  


Ladybug grinned.

  
  


“You will never get my miraculous,” she shouted at ‘Protectrice’ before leaping forward into a flip and tossing her yo-yo into the air.

  
  


With a great shout, ‘Protectrice’ lunged forward with her dog-catchers net. It came down swiftly, hitting the spot where Ladybug and Chat Noir had just been standing. Ladybug swung through the air by the string of her yo-yo, glancing back over her shoulder scanning the street for Chat. He must have leapt away with the aid of his baton because he was safely up on a nearby building’s roof.

  
  


“Nice ears, Protectrice,” shouted Chat causing Ladybug to smirk and roll her eyes because _of course_ he would zero in on that part of her outfit first. “But _I’m_ the royal cat around these parts.”

  
  


Ladybug narrowed her eyes at said ears; could they be the hiding spot of the akuma? If that was the case, this might just be a quick battle. She tossed her yo-yo again and swung up closer to ‘Protectrice’. If she could just grab them from the top of the woman’s head, it’d all be over in a flash! As Ladybug swung past, ‘Protectrice’ waved her net through the air and, in that instant, a great many things happened all at once.

  
  


“Ladybug, look out!” called Chat’s voice as Ladybug was suddenly falling, her yo-yo snapping back into the palm of her hand. The net was coming down on top of her, she threw up her hands instinctively to block the blow, her eyes squeezing shut. A shadow flew across her and then, suddenly, something light landed on her chest.

  
  


“Now you really _are_ a cat!” boomed the laughing voice of ‘Protectrice’ as Ladybug opened her eyes to see a small, black kitten looking down at her with wide, bright green eyes. “Now you will understand what it is like to be abandoned and alone, to be lonely and lost! _Now_ , you’ll live the rest of your days as just another stray in the streets of Paris.”

  
  


“Chat?” whispered Ladybug incredulously. The kitten meowed.

  
  


“You’re next, Ladybug,” threatened ‘Protectrice’ coming closer and raising her net once again. She paused. “Unless you give me your miraculous, that is,” she offered.

  
  


Chat the kitten leaped from his perch on Ladybug’s chest at the villainous voice.

  
  


“Never,” shouted Ladybug, leaping to her feet.

  
  


She tossed her yo-yo toward the closest light-post and then swung around to once again try to get at ‘Protectrice’s royal cat ears. The woman swung her long net through the air while letting out a loud bellow. Ladybug flipped and somersaulted out of her reach. She landed on a rooftop and took a moment to catch her breath and look over the scene.

  
  


How could she have been so careless to leap in without a game plan? This would be harder now that she couldn’t depend on Chat’s help. That darn cat, always sacrificing himself for her! Where was he, anyway? She scanned the street. She couldn’t help but giggle when she caught sight of him, fur standing on end along his spine, hissing angrily at ‘Protectrice’ from the shadows. Oh, sweet, little kitten.

  
  


“If ‘Protectrice’ is actually turning people into cats and dogs, that explains the large number of them running away when I first arrived,” she said aloud to herself. “I will have to be especially careful of that net so I won’t have the same fate as poor Chat-- _wait a minute_ , what if the cat-eared tiara isn’t the akuma!? What if it was net all along?”

  
  


It made sense; the olive green attire, the net... the woman must work for an animal shelter! Ladybug frowned with determination and focused back on ‘Protectrice’ who was currently breaking into a nearby pet store.

  
  


“You say you’ll love them when they’re cute and small,” she was shouting at the people who had been hiding in the shop and were now running out. “But what happens with those puppies start chewing on your favourite slippers? Will you drop them at my door? Will you leave them out in the street?”

  
  


“Chat!” shouted Ladybug, cupping her hands around her mouth. “It’s the net!”

  
  


Kitten or not, if Chat was all there, he would still know what to do. When it came to saving the day, Chat and Ladybug were always on the same page.

  
  


Just as she expected he would, Chat ran out of the shadows (on four tiny paws) straight for ‘Protectrice’. Someone who cared that much about cats and dogs wouldn’t harm a kitten, even if she knew it was actually Chat Noir.

  
  


With Chat running around under her feet, effectively distracting ‘Protectrice’, Ladybug took the opportunity to swing down from her rooftop. She swung to the ground behind the woman and threw her yo-yo at the long handle of the net, stealing it from her hand.

  
  


“Aha!” exclaimed Ladybug, the net now in her hands. “You won’t be needing this anymore, ‘Protectrice’.”

  
  


“Give that back!” exclaimed ‘Protectrice’.  
  
“Whoops!” mock-cried Ladybug as she broke the net’s handle over her knee.

  
  


Bravado aside, her heart was pounding in her chest with anxiety over whether it truly was the item she was looking for. Luckily, a black butterfly flew out from the broken net.

  
  


“No more evil-doing for you, little akuma,” spoke Ladybug, nearly laughing in relief. She had been wrong once, but she had it now. “Time to de-evilize!”

  
  


Ladybug opened her yo-yo and swung it around, catching the butterfly out of the air.  
  
  


  
“Gotcha!” she exclaimed like she did every time before. She cleansed the butterfly and released it in its new pure-white form. “Bye-bye little butterfly.”

  
  


With that, she turned to the scene of destruction at hand. Chat, the kitten, trotted over to her, his tail up like a happy little kitten.

  
  


“Miraculous Ladybug!” she exclaimed, throwing her yo-yo into the air in lieu of a lucky charm. A cloud of magical ladybugs exploded out from it and swarmed the wreckage, fixing everything the akuma had ruined.

 

 

Ladybug grinned down at the little black kitten, ready for him to change back into her partner so they could do their traditional fist bump. The black kitten stood staring up at her, obviously waiting for the same.

 

Everything quickly changed back to normal. The akumatized woman was herself again. Cats and dogs were changing back to people left and right. The buildings were repaired. Everything was set right… everything except for Chat who was still a little, black kitten.

 

Ladybug bit her lip looking from the kitten over to the woman sitting in the street rubbing her teary eyes and past her to the news van pulling up from around the bend. Normally, Ladybug would like to speak to the victim and make sure they’re okay but this was new. She couldn’t have anyone knowing Chat was still a kitten; she couldn’t risk it getting to Hawkmoth. Mind made up, Ladybug quickly scooped up Chat who let out a surprised ‘mew’. Then she flung out her yo-yo, leaving the scene.  

 

Kitten held tight to her chest in one arm, she leapt from rooftop to rooftop, throwing out her yo-yo to swing between larger gaps between buildings. As she flew, she debated with herself what to do next. Chat should have changed back to himself like everyone and everything else. Why was he still a kitten? She couldn’t just leave him, but if she took him with her, he would quickly find out her identity. Or would he? Was he even still Chat in there? Yes, yes he was. He had helped her defeat the akuma even as a kitten. So, that meant he was still aware, was still himself. So, yes, if she took him home with her, he would find out exactly who she was.

 

“Augh,” she growled at herself as she landed on a flat roof to catch her breath now that she deemed them far enough away. “This is more important than secret identities,” she said out loud, berating herself for being selfish.

 

Her earrings beeped letting her know she was soon to detransform. Ladybug gently set Chat down.

 

“Why are you still a kitten?” she asked knowing full-well that Chat was entirely unlikely to be able to answer. Chat the kitten, stared up at her with wide, green eyes. He looked a little disoriented. Ladybug imagined that it must be quite strange to be a person in a kitten’s body.

 

“Maybe it is just taking longer to wear off on you because you were already so cat-like,” offered Ladybug, weakly.

 

Chat the kitten cocked his head to the side and let out a tiny, adorable ‘mew’.

 

“You’re right,” sighed Ladybug as her earrings gave another beep, “that sounds ridiculous. Well, we have to figure out what to do. I can’t have my partner be an actual cat! Though… you still did really good work back there. Good going, Chat.”

 

The little kitten suddenly looked happy, puffing up his little, fluffy chest with pride. It took everything in Ladybug not to coo at how adorable he was. She had to mentally remind herself that this was Chat and everything she said or did would come back to haunt her in the form of teasing once he returned to his human form. She reached down to pick Chat back up.

 

“You’ll just have to come home with me until we get this sorted,” she said as her earrings gave one last warning.

 

Suddenly, Chat began wriggling around in her arms.

 

“Chat, what--”

 

The kitten freed himself of her gentled hold and leapt to the ground.

 

“Chat!” exclaimed Ladybug.

 

Like a little black blur, he ran away, quickly disappearing from view. Ladybug went to chase after him, but in that instance her miraculous released in a pink burst of light. She was back to being Marinette in a moment.

 

“Chat,” she called once more, but the kitten was gone.

 

“Marinette, what’s going on?” asked Tikki when she appeared at her shoulder.

 

“Tikki! This is such a mess,” Marinette cried before losing her balance and almost falling off the roof of the building. “Ack!” she squeaked, quickly grabbing for purchase on the nearby chimney.

 

“Careful, Marinette!” exclaimed Tikki. “You’re not as likely to catch yourself if you fall without your yo-yo. Why are we still on the roof, anyway?”

 

“It’s a long story,” Marinette sighed.

  
She leaned back against the brick chimney. Chat was a kitten and had run off who-knew-where with no way of being contacted. And now she was stuck up on a roof and would have to find a way to shimmy down from the rooftop as plain old klutzy Marinette. This was _not_ how she had hoped to finish her Friday!

 


	2. Lost and Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for you comments and bookmarks! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the first chapter. You are my inspiration to keep writing this little plot bunny. 
> 
> Please don't mind the poor grammar and typos. This has not been beta-read.

Chat had no idea why he was still a cat. He should have been turned back to normal like the rest of the ‘lonely pets’ when Ladybug had used her miraculous. Would it eventually wear off on its own or would he be stuck as a real cat forever? The thought made something constrict sharply in his chest. It was best not to think of that just yet. Instead, he would worry about the current issue at hand. Ladybug was feeling guilty for his feline predicament -- it was written all over her beautiful, masked face. She was about to sacrifice her secret identity in order to help him deal with his situation.

 

No, it hadn’t come to that yet and, it hopefully never would.

 

Chat squirmed in Ladybug’s arms until he was free. Without looking back, he leapt down the side of the building and followed the eaves to the lower awning. He ran across it and jumped to the next one.

 

As much as there were moments where he wished he and Ladybug knew each other’s identities, he wasn’t about to let the current situation lead to their reveal. He would much rather that Ladybug one day revealed her identity to him of her own choice. Besides, he had to head home for some damage control.

 

His bedroom window was still open a crack when he got back home. It was fortunate because he wasn’t exactly sure how he would get it open without hands had the cleaning staff closed it or the wind blown it shut. Chat pushed his way into his room through the opening and leapt down to the floor, landing soundlessly in soft paws. Now he had to figure out what to do to excuse his absence. He wasn’t certain whether his father would keep it quiet that his son were missing for privacy’s sake or use his sudden disappearance for additional publicity, either way, with the schedule Adrien Agreste kept, it wouldn’t be long before he absence would be noticed. What was a cat to do?

 

It was then that his phone lit up and vibrated with a new message from where it sat across the room on his bedside table. Chat bounded toward it, leaping up onto his bed with some difficulty before leaping onto the bedside table. A new message from Nino was viewable on the locked screen.

 

 **N:** So stoked for tomorrow!

 

Chat touched the screen with his paw hoping it would respond. The phone lit up with the password screen. Chat grinned, his whiskers twitching at the probably-strange-on-a-cat expression. Carefully, he tapped in his code to unlock the phone with his paw. The text chat popped up on the screen and with it came Chat’s reminder that he and Nino were scheduled to go away to a video game convention in London that weekend. Perfect! His father wouldn’t expect him to be home.

 

 **N:** We still meeting at the train station at 8?

 

“I'm not going to be able to make it,” typed out Chat. It took a long time with a paw instead of fingers.

 

 **N:** Noooo!!! Did your dad double book you again?

 

 **A:** No... I’m sick. I’m so sorry, dude.

 

 **N:** That sucks.

 

 **A:** I know.

 

 **A:** You should still go! Give my ticket to someone else.

 

 **N:**   Okay but it won’t be as good without you. Get well soon, Dude!

 

 **A:** Thanks. Have fun. Send pics!

 

Next Chat clicked over his contacts to send his father a quick text.

 

 **A:** Nino and I decided to leave early. We will eat something on the way to the train station. See you Monday night.

 

His father would likely  not reply right away, so Chat didn’t wait for one. Instead, he closed his phone and slumped down on the nightstand.

 

Chat groaned to himself, though it came out more as a sad, weird, little yowl. He had really been looking forward to spending three days with Nino. They had been looking forward to playing some pre-release video games and just being out by themselves. At least he had his bases covered for a few days, though. Everyone would think Adrien was away with Nino and Nino would think he was at home in bed.

 

A sound coming from down the hallway outside his room roused him from his melancholy. It sounded like the little cart of cleaning supplies their housekeeper pushed from room to room. Chat glanced at the clock on his phone. It was 6:30pm. She was late. He glanced around the room for somewhere to hide which was when he noticed his suitcase sitting beside his bedroom door. Crap, crap, crap, crap! The house staff wouldn’t believe he had left early with Nino if his luggage was still sitting in his room.

 

Chat leapt to the floor. The landing wasn’t perfect, so he rolled tail over head before getting up again and running toward the luggage. What could he do? He looked around the room, heart beating in his big, furry ears. His closet door was open. Chat could push the suitcase into there! Quickly, he stood up on his hind legs, front paws braced on the black suitcase, and pushed with all his might. The suitcase didn’t budge. Crap. Chat pushed again. Nothing. He went back down onto all four paws and glared at the suitcase thoughtfully. He was so small and light. Perhaps if he were to get a running start?

 

Determined, Chat ran back a few steps before putting his head down and running forward as fast as he could. OOF! Pain radiated out from his head and down his neck, but the suitcase had moved a few inches. Chat backed up to do it again. He ran forward right into the suitcase again. It moved a few inches once again. This would be a long and painful process. Chat let out a sigh and backed up again.

 

After too many head-first rams into the suitcase to keep count, he finally go it to the closet. Deciding that next time he went anywhere, he wouldn’t pack quite so heavy, Chat pushed the closet door almost shut with just enough room to go back through. That was when there was a double rap on his bedroom door. The housekeeper must have finished cleaning the hallway and made it to his room. Chat glanced around in a panic before running to hide under the throw pillow on his sofa.

 

The bedroom door opened a moment later and the housekeeper stepped in calling out a greeting to the seemingly-vacant bedroom. Chat huddled down tighter against the back of the sofa. Time passed slowly as he waited for her to dust, sweep, and vacuum his bedroom like she did every Friday afternoon. Chat’s eyes grew heavy as he waited. Paris was a big city, but it was even bigger when a person was actually a small cat. Getting home had taken a lot out of him and then moving the suitcase had taken even more. Chat gave his head a minute shake, trying not to fall asleep. The woman hummed a soft, traditional song to herself as she worked. Chat’s eyelids grew heavier still.  

 

Suddenly Chat was waking up to the surprised shriek of the housekeeper. He jumped up, fur standing on end and tail upright in his own surprise. He mewed and jumped backward, hitting against the back of the sofa and falling back to the plush seat  before jumping up onto the sofa’s arm and leaping onto the floor.

 

“Scat!” exclaimed the woman, throwing the pillow in her hands she must have been fluffing when she discovered him. “Shoo!”

 

Chat leapt out of the way of the thrown throw pillow, the irony of that completely lost on him as he was busy fleeing. The housekeeper shouted and chased after him.

 

“Out! Get out! Shoo!” she shouted as she stomped her shoes near his little paws.

 

Chat jumped up onto the window pane before squeezing out the window.

 

“Good riddance!” exclaimed the woman as she shut the window and locked it. “That boy needs to learn to keep his window shut.”

 

Chat glared weakly at her back through the window as she turned back to finishing her cleaning. What kind of person chased out a kitten, anyway? Even a stray kitten was still a kitten. Didn’t people love kittens?  
  
The chilly wind blew and ruffled his short, black fur. Chat let out a forlorn yowl. Now what would he do? He walked along the stone ledge on the outside his house until he came to another, lower ledge and jumped down to it. Slowly, carefully he made his way down to the street. He may be a cat, but he was no longer a super cat and he’d rather not fall from so high without a baton (or hands for holding it) to use to catch himself.

 

It was overcast and a bit rainy that day and, with the sun hidden by clouds, it was getting dark quite fast now that evening was in full swing. Chat shivered feeling a bit lost and alone. His stomach growled with hunger. It made him think of the cheese in his shirt pocket he had ready for Plagg before transforming into Chat. Since he had been Chat when he’d been turned into an actual cat, it probably meant Plagg was gone until he found a way to turn back to Chat and could detransform. What a mess! It sure would be nice to have Plagg right about then. Sure, the strange little cat kwami could be a real pest at times, but his wisdom could come in real handy right about then.

 

The streets were busy with people both on foot and in vehicles. Chat had to be careful to keep to the alleys and close to the walls. It was Friday evening and most people were likely going home from work for the long weekend or going out for dinner. Chat longed for a familiar face in the crowd. But who could he even go to for help?

 

He needed to find Ladybug. She was the only one who knew what had happened, the only one who could help. Plus, she was probably worried. Perhaps she was even out looking for him. The idea that _someone_ might be worried about him made him feel a tiny bit better --except for the sudden pang of guilt he felt for having left her like he had. It wasn’t as though he could speak to explain himself, though.

 

But, how would he find her now?

 

Chat wandered aimlessly through the alleys, stomach continuing to rumble with hunger. It began to rain and the breeze began to blow a bit more strongly. Chat hid from the cold in the back doorway of a building at random. His fur was not enough of a shield against the wet cold of late autumn on its own.

 

He shivered remembering the words of Protectrice; “Now you will understand what it is like to be abandoned and alone, to be lonely and lost! Now, you’ll live the rest of your days as just another stray in the streets of Paris”.  Through the drama with his parents, he had already known what it felt like to feel abandoned and alone, but this was definitely a more literal take. He curled into a tight ball, pressing himself tight against the wall, and, without meaning to, let out a piteous, little mew.

It quickly grew darker and darker. The street lights shone brightly, the lights from inside buildings shone warmly out into the pouring night. Chat sat quietly in his corner, mostly sheltered from the wind and rain though he still felt chilled. The flow of people and traffic dwindled as the dinner hour passed and evening steadily grew toward night.

 

It was late when Chat finally left his corner and ventured back in the night, resolved to find Ladybug even if he had no idea how. He had no idea how one little cat could possibly find one person whose identity was secret from him in a large city of over two million, but he had to try. Stomach still panging with hunger and body feeling weak with fatigue, Chat ran between buildings, trying to keep as much out of the rain as possible.

 

He was rounding a familiar corner just a block from his school when it dawned on him that he could go wait at one of his and Ladybug’s patrol meeting spots. If she was out looking for him, she would know to check those first, right? But which one could he get to in his current form? Definitely not the top of the Eiffel Tower. He paused (heh, heh; _pawsed_ ) when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. There, atop a nearby building was a familiar dark form.

 

“Mew!” he exclaimed excitedly, forgetting himself.

 

Chat grimaced at himself before running out from the alley into the street. It was Ladybug crouching atop of the Dupain-Cheng bakery! She looked like was just about to leave. Chat ran to stand under a streetlight to make himself more visible.

 

“Meow,” he belted out as loudly as he could muster. He was happy that sounded a little more ‘manly’ than his excited ‘mew’ from seconds before. “Meow! Meow!” he called again and again.

 

The form on the roof straightened.

 

“Chat?” whisper-called Ladybug’s familiar hushed voice.

 

“Meow!” confirmed Chat, turning in circles.

 

A second later, Ladybug landed on the sidewalk nearby. Chat ran to her.

 

“Chat!” she whispered excitedly. “I’m so glad to see you.”

 

“Meow,” replied Chat happily.

 

Without consciously thinking about it, he rubbed up against her legs letting out a loud, rolling purr. It was slightly embarrassing, but Ladybug laughed and knelt down to pet him.

 

“I guess you’re glad to see me, too, huh?” she asked from behind a few relieved-sounding giggles.  “Oh Chat! You feel so cold!”

 

Chat leaned into her stroking fingers, so relieved to have been found. He pressed his side against her leg and leaned his weight into her appreciating her presence and warmth. His eyes popped open, his loud purrs coming to a halt in surprise, when she scooped him up into her arms and stood. He hadn’t been able to appreciate that she was holding him before because of his shock at their situation and how bumpy the trip from rooftop to rooftop had been, but now he resumed his purring and pressed further into her embrace. His lady was holding him! And she was so warm that cold, rainy night.

 

“You stupid cat,” said Ladybug. “Why did you run away like that? I’ve been looking for you all evening!”

 

Chat simply kept purring. Did she realize how much she was petting him? How tightly she was holding him? He hoped she would never stop.

 

“I think I have a plan,” she said after a few moments. “I... uh... just finished speaking to… Marinette Dupain-Cheng. You remember her, right? You saved her when… well, anyway, I knew she was trustworthy, so I asked her to… host you while we figure this all out.”

 

Chat let his eyes fall closed while Ladybug continued to hold him and run her fingers through his fur. Yes, he knew Marinette, but that didn’t seem important right then. He was busy enjoying his lady’s ministrations.

 

“So, I will leave you with her tonight and you must promise me that _you won’t run away again_ ! I _mean_ it, Chat!” she scolded, hand stilling in Chat’s fur.

 

Chat opened his eyes, blinking a few slow blinks up at her. She had her yo-yo in her hand, what had she said, again? He tensed when Ladybug threw out her yo-yo and leapt up the side of the closest building. His empty stomach was even more susceptible to that terrible, swooping sensation the jumping and jostling about had given him.

 

“Tomorrow, I am going to visit Master Fu and see if he can help us,” Ladybug said after they landed on the rooftop. “I will come check on you after and let you know if I find anything out.”

 

Wait. She was going to come check on him? Where was she going right now? Was she leaving him? Chat let out a pitchy mew.

 

“Sorry,” said Ladybug as she carefully set him down. “I bet that was a bumpy ride. Okay, I’m going to leave you here. _Do not_ run away again. Promise me, Chat!”

 

“Meow,” said Chat feeling panic rise in his chest. Why was she leaving him? He should have been paying better attention to what she was saying earlier. It seemed like it was getting harder to pay attention to human words the longer he was a cat. That didn’t bode well.

 

“Chat,” warned Ladybug with a hand on her hip.

 

“Meow?” offered Chat softly.

 

“That’s better,” she said with a nod and small smile.  She bent down, giving him one last pet. Chat closed his eyes and let out a little purr. “Don’t worry, we will figure this out,” she whispered. “I promise.”

 

Chat didn’t doubt her, but it was hard to feel hopeful when he had to watch her turn her back to him and leap off the top of the building. He let out a mournful mew as she disappeared into the dark. Why did she leave him? He sat, ears and tail drooping as that terribly lonely feeling crept back over him.

 

A few minutes later a trap door near him opened, startling Chat to his feet.

 

“Here kitty, kitty, kitty,” whispered a familiar voice. It almost sounded like LadyBug.

 

Chat turned toward it to find Marinette looking back at him with her big, blue eyes. Ladybug had said something about Marinette. Did she say she arranged for the girl to look after him?

 

“Hi, kitty,” said Marinette with a smile when he turned her way.

 

Chat cocked his head to the side. Why did her smile look so sad? Did she know he was actually Chat? What had Ladybug told her about him? Why had Ladybug chosen her? He knew Marinette from school, knew she was kind and trustworthy. But how did Ladybug know that about her? Did she really only know her from the few times they had met her as heroes or did Ladybug know her as a civilian, too?

 

Marinette was beckoning to him. Chat shrugged to himself, not sure what that looked like in his feline form, and took a few tentative steps toward her. It wouldn’t do to look overeager.

 

“C’mon kitty, kitty. That’s right,” she said encouragingly as he walked to her.

 

When he reached her, she picked him up just as gently as Ladybug had, maybe moreso. Chat could feel the warmth from inside the building wafting out to him, could smell the leftover scent of supper in the air from downstairs. He let her hold him close as she closed the trapdoor and went down the steps into her bedroom.

 

The first thing he noticed when she set him down on the chaise in her bedroom were the two dress forms standing across the room with half-finished dresses hanging on them. The second thing he noticed were the multiple pictures of himself (...well, of Adrien Agreste) from various magazines taped to her wall. Chat’s eyes widened and he sat back heavily on his haunches.

 

“Okay,” said Marinette, softly, “just wait here a moment. I will go get you something to eat.”

  
  
Marinette walked over to the stairs. Chat paid her no attention, only seeing her move from the corner of his eye. Instead, he continued to stare up at the collage of pictures of himself on her wall disbelievingly.

 

“I’ll be right back,” said Marinette before disappearing from his periphery.


	3. Marinette

“What am I doing?” sighed Marinette. She plunked down on the last few white steps that led up to her room and let out a frustrated groan. Tikki flitted out into the air in front of her.

 

"What's wrong Marinette?" she asked in her sweet, little voice.

 

Marinette covered her eyes with her hands and dropped her forehead to her knees.

 

"Other than Chat being an actual cat?" she asked from her near-foetal position on the steps.

 

"Yes, other than that," said Tikki sounding playfully sarcastic. "There's something else, I can tell."

 

“I’m lying to him, Tikki," sighed Marinette dropping her hands away and turning her head so her cheek was against her knees and she could look over at Tikki. Tikki was hovering just a few feet in front of her. "Mutually keeping our identities secret from each other is one thing, but actively lying... I feel terrible!” 

 

Marinette stood up and hopped down the last step into the open kitchen / family area of her home.

 

“He's my partner, we are supposed to be able to trust each other. Instead I’m lying to him when he needs our help the most,” she exclaimed, waving her hands in frustration. “You can't trust a liar!"

 

Tikki didn’t respond, just flitted about looking concerned and guilty. Marinette let out a sigh, feeling a bit bad for her outburst especially since it wasn’t Tikki’s fault. She sat down on one of the stools at the kitchen counter. Nothing in life had prepared her for dealing with this situation. What was a girl to do when she was secretly a superhero with a secret superhero partner who had suddenly been turned into a cat? Where was the manual for something like that? She leaned her elbows on the counter.

 

“I’m sorry, Tikki,” she said, softly.

 

She watched out of the corner of her eye as Tikki flitted about nervously before landing on the counter beside her.

 

"Oh, Marinette, don’t be sorry," said Tikki, patting Marinette’s arm with her little hand. " _ I'm _ sorry. This is a very hard situation to navigate and I’m sorry that you have to go through it.”

 

Marinette reached out to give Tikki a gentle pat. Tikki smiled.

 

“But considering Chat fleed when your identity was about to be revealed earlier today,” said Tikki, “he obviously doesn't want to know your identity anymore than you want to share it."

 

"Well..." said Marinette with a humourless laugh. "That's not entirely true."

 

She smiled sadly as Tikki tilted her head to the side inquisitively.

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"Lately, I've been thinking that I’d sort of, maybe like to tell him,” admitted Marinette before her eyes went wide in shock at her own admission and she sat up straight and quickly, stutteringly added, “only sometimes, just a little bit...kind of… I don’t know!?" 

 

Sure, the thought had been rolling around in her head unbidden for the past few weeks, but speaking it outloud made it feel a lot scarier. Marinette to let out a groan and drop her head back to the countertop.

 

"Marinette!” gasped Tikki with a big smile. “Do you have a crush on Chat Noir!?"

 

"WHAT!?” exclaimed Marinette, her head shooting up. “No! Nooo! That's crazy! No!"

 

Tikki crossed her arms across her abdomen and giggled.

 

"No," said Marinette again, this time a bit more composed. "It's mostly just that I've been feeling so alone because of my secret, you know? I mean, I have you and your friendship means so much to me, Tikki, but..."

 

"It'd be nice to have someone else in the know," finished Tikki with a knowing smile.

 

"Yeah," said Marinette. "But of course I won't tell him! I’ve been doing just fine these past few years without telling anyone. Plus, I mean... I can't actually tell anyone, or ..at least... I shouldn't, right?"

 

"It's been almost 4 years, Marinette," said Tikki. "I think you should tell him if that's what you want."

 

"Really?"

 

"Yeah," said Tikki with a smile. “It may make some things more difficult, but I think it will also make a lot of things a lot easier… for both of you.”

 

"Thanks, Tikki,” said Marinette with a smile of her own. She suddenly felt a lot lighter, as if Tikki’s blessing on the identity reveal was all Marinette needed.

 

"You're welcome, Marinette."

 

Of course, that wasn’t the only issue at hand, and Marinette was quickly brought back to reality by the chiming of the clock on the bookshelf. The momentary relief was lost to the stress of the issue at hand.

 

"Well," said Marinette before getting up. "I guess I have a hungry kitten waiting for me."

 

Marinette grabbed the little bit of leftovers from supper out of the fridge.

 

"Are you going to tell him tonight?" asked Tikki, floating around her shoulders as Marinette plated the leftovers.

 

Marinette paused at the question.

 

"No," she said after some thought. "Today has been stressful enough. I think I will work my way up to it."

 

"That seems wise," said Tikki nodding approvingly.

 

“Okay,” said Marinette, taking a deep breath, “ready to go back up there?”

 

Tikki smiled and saluted. Marinette giggled before grimacing.

 

“I’m sorry this means you’ll have to hide in our own house,” she said.

 

“It’s fine, Marinette,” said Tikki before floating up to nuzzle her face against Marinette’s cheek. “Don’t worry about me. And don’t worry too much, tonight, okay? Chat Noir is here safe and sound and tomorrow you will go see Master Fu to seek his help. Now, let’s go feed that probably-very-hungry kitten.”

 

\---------------

 

Marinette found Chat in the same place she had left him. He had been laying down, but immediately sat up when she entered the room. The long chaise made him look even smaller.

 

"Here's some food, little kitty," whispered Marinette, placing the dish next to Chat.

 

She watched him stand up, stretch, and step over to the dish. His first bite was a very delicate one, but he was obviously hungry the way he dug in immediately after that. Marinette sat down on the foot of the chaise to watch him. It was strange to sit next to a cute, fluffy, little kitten and know that he was actually her superhero partner. She had to stop herself from reaching out to pet his black, fluffy fur.

 

"I know who you are," she said after a few moments, surprising herself. She watched Chat pause in his eating and look up at her with his bright green feline eyes. 

 

"I wasn't going to tell you that I knew. I was going to just treat you like a cat, but..." Marinette let out a sigh, "but I hate lying to you."

 

Chat straightened and sat back on his haunches. He tilted his head and just looked at her.

 

"You're Chat Noir," said Marinette. “Protectrice turned you into a little kitten and, for some unknown reason, you didn’t change back when everything else was set right.”

 

Chat let out a meow. Marinette wondered what he would say in that moment if he could actually speak. It must be hard for him, especially considering how talkative normally was, to not be able to communicate with words. 

 

“I won’t tell anyone,” promised Marinette. “I just want to help.”

 

Chat the kitten gave a softer mew in response. Marinette smiled softly. Poor, silly Chat. She suddenly wondered if his family was getting worried about him. It was obvious that they were close to the same age, but she was nearly done with school and could soon be off on her own. Did he live at home like she did? Did he have roommates? How long would it take for Chat to be missed in his civilian life? 

 

“We need to figure out a way to communicate,” said Marinette as Chat finished licking the dish clean.    
  
“Meow,” replied Chat. 

 

Marinette tapped her finger against her chin thoughtfully.

 

“I think the simplest thing we can do for now,” she said, “is have you meow once for yes and twice for no. Sound good?”

 

“Meow.”

 

Marinette smiled. 

 

“Well,” she said, standing up. “It’s pretty late and I’m sure you’ve had quite a long day.” She picked up the dish and turned toward her bathroom. “I’ll just rinse this out and get you some water. Hmm… and I’ll see if I can find you a little blanket.”

 

Chat was still sitting quietly on the chaise when she returned with water and a blanket for him.   
  
“This is one of my old baby blankets,” she said, pausing when she realized he was staring up at the collage of pictures of Adrien Agreste on her wall. 

 

She immediately paled. They’d been up there for so long by then that she mostly forgot about them. Some of the pictures were quite old and getting a bit outdated, some had been changed out for newer ones in previous years. To her credit, the collage was much smaller than years ago when she had first had a crush on the boy and there were actually some magazine pages of models  _ other _ than Adrien now in the mix.  

 

Still, it was rather embarrassing to have  _ Chat Noir _ , of all people, be privy to her long-standing crush. He looked at her and then the wall, then back at her. He didn’t need a human face with eyebrows to lift or to be able to speak in order to communicate his judgement -- or at least, that’s what Marinette believed she saw on his feline face.

 

"I've been meaning to take those down," she squeaked. Chat’s green eyes went back to her and he cocked his head to the side. "No, you know what? I'm not ashamed of having been a teenage girls with a celebrity crush, okay? I mean, it's pretty common, after all.”

 

Marinette put her hand on her hip, raised her chin, and pointed at the little, fluffy kitten with an accusatory finger. “Don’t you try to make me feel bad about this, Chat Noir!"

 

Chat meowed twice.

 

No? What did he mean by no? Marinette dropped her arms and let out a sigh. She went up to the wall and ran a fingertip over the curling edge of one of the older poster pages.

 

"I guess it's a bit weird when I know him in person, though," she said with a little deprecating laugh. “Most teens never meet their celebrity crushes. It’s a lot different when you’re in the same class as one. It becomes this confusing mix between a regular crush and that far-off, safely unattainable, celebrity crush.”

 

Of all the things for Chat to learn about her, this crush had to be the worst. At least he couldn't tease her about it at the moment, but it would be brutal once he was human again. Especially once he knew she was Ladybug! Oh gosh, she  _ really  _ didn't want ro tell him, now!!!

 

"Okay, you have to promise not to make fun of me for any of this," she demanded, but it came out a little squeaky. "I just... he's so kind, y'know? You probably don't know. Well, he's kind. Yes, he's also very pretty… I mean, he  _ is _ a model after all. But, that was not where my crush came from, not even at the start. He's so many other things than a model, and… and we're friends, now... at least I hope we are. We're classmates. I can hardly speak around him even though we've been in school together for years! It's all really embarrassing and I can't believe I'm telling you any of this! Augh!"

 

She dragged a fingernail under the closest piece of tape to lift it from the wall.

 

"I really should take these down," she muttered more to herself than to Chat. "I'm much too old to have my crush's pictures all over my walls and, really, I’ve known Adrien too long to still have have pictures of him up here. It… it  _ is _ a bit weird. I should have taken them all down when we first started to get to know each other."

 

She picked at another piece of tape, pulling it away from the wall. She hesitated. With an exhale she pressed both pieces of tape back down against the wall and spun around to face the little black kitten.

 

"Don't make fun of me," she ordered with finality and a dark glare.

 

Chat was simply staring at her with those green eyes of his. Marinette threw her hands up in the air.

 

"Oh, shut up!" she exclaimed.

 

Chat said nothing. Marinette glared at him some more. How did he manage to look like he was laughing at her? Okay, maybe she was projecting just a little bit. He wasn’t doing anything with his face, he was just… being a kitten. Marinette deflated.

 

“Here’s a blanket,” she said, getting back on topic. “It’s one of my old baby blankets, so it is soft and small enough that you won’t get all lost in it.”

 

She set it down on the chaise for Chat and pushed it up into something of a little nest for him. 

 

“I filled the dish with water and set it down by the wall over there in case you get thirsty,” she said, gesturing to the dish. “Do you need anything else?”

 

Chat let out two, short meows in quick succession.

 

“Okay,” said Marinette, straightening. “Then, I guess I’ll go get ready for bed. Good-night, Chat.”

 

\------------------

 

It had taken Marinette a long time to fall asleep, even with Tikki’s reassurance that Marinette was already doing all she could for Chat. She knew the best thing she could do right then was get a good night’s sleep, but that didn’t mean she had enough control over her psyche to simply fall to sleep. She laid awake for what felt like hours before sleep finally found her. So, when she was awoken in the middle of the night, puffy, tired eyes squinting in the dark, she felt a bit disoriented with lack of sleep. 

 

Marinette grabbed her phone and looked at the time, let out a sigh, and plopped back down in bed. A soft purring breathing to her left had her freezing in place and slowly turning her head. There, beside her pillow, laying curled in a tight black, fluffy, ball was a sleeping kitten. She could just make out his little black form in the darkness by the dim light of her phone’s screen. His sudden presence must have been what woke her.

 

“It must be lonely and a bit scary all alone in a strange room when you’re suddenly so small,” whispered Tikki from Marinette’s right. 

 

“You’re right,” replied Marinette in a similar hushed voice. “Maybe I shouldn’t have left him down on the chaise all alone like that. It’s just hard to know how to treat him right now.”

 

“You’re doing great, Marinette,” praised Tikki before pressing a tiny kiss to Marinette’s cheek.

 

“Thank you, Tikki,” whispered Marinette from behind a yawn. “I just hope he doesn’t see you when he wakes up.”

 

“I’ll stay hidden,” promised Tikki.

 

“Good night,” whispered Marinette, cuddling back down in her blankets.

 

“Good night, Marinette,” said Tikki. “Have a good sleep.”


	4. Master Fu

 

Ladybug landed in front of Master Fu’s massage parlour. She took a deep breath before going in. Even though she had been Ladybug for years now and had had met with Master Fu before, she still felt nervous going into his parlour.

 

“Ah, Ladybug,” spoke Master Fu when she stepped into the large room where he had been sitting on a mat on the floor. “I have been expecting you.”

 

“You have?” asked Ladybug in surprise.

 

“Yes,” he answered as he got up and slowly began rolling up his mat. Ladybug waited expectantly, trying to remain still and patient. He rose and took the rolled mat in his hands across the room to put away. Ladybug chewed on her lip.

 

“Would you like some tea?” he asked when he finally returned.

 

“No, thank you,” she said hoping it would speed things along.

 

Master Fu gave a little shrug as if to say 'suit yourself' and went about fixing himself some tea. Ladybug followed along behind him. She knew she was hovering, but she didn't have a lot of time before her parents would figure out she was missing and she didn't want them to go into her room and find she'd been harbouring a ‘stray’ kitten.

 

Tea finally made, Master Fu sat down in one of the chairs by the window and gestured for Ladybug to take the other. She hesitated, nervous energy wanting her to stand, but ultimately decided to sit. Master Fu took a sip of his tea and closed his eyes as if savouring it – even though he likely had that same type of tea every single day. He let out a low, contented hum. Ladybug couldn't take it any more, she leaned forward in her chair and cleared her throat.

 

“You were expecting me?” she prompted.

 

“Ah, yes,” he said, setting down the teacup. “Something is wrong with Chat Noir.”

 

“How do you know?” asked Ladybug.

 

“His kwami,” replied Master Fu. “As Great Guardian of the Miraculouses, I have something of a connection to each one. I can sense that Plagg is trapped in some sort of stasis.”

 

“For whatever reason, Miraculous Ladybug didn't fix what the latest akuma did to Chat Noir in our last battle,” spoke Ladybug, suddenly feeling a lot more hopeful. If Master Fu had such a connection to Chat Noir's kwami, he _had_ to be able to fix this… _right?_

 

“Oh?”

 

“Our latest akumatized victim was turning people into cats and dogs,” explained Ladybug.

 

She looked down at her hands and folded them tightly in her lap. It felt like there was lead in her stomach.

 

“I messed up,” she admitted after a pause. “It was my fault that Chat Noir was turned into a kitten. I tried to rush the battle because I was in a hurry to get home. I moved in without thinking ahead and Chat Noir took the hit for me. I didn’t even use Lucky Charm… oh!”

 

Ladybug’s eyes widened in realization. She looked up at Master Fu who was watching her carefully from across the table. “Do… do you think Chat Noir didn’t change back because I didn’t use Lucky Charm?”

 

Master Fu hummed thoughtfully.

 

“Perhaps.”

 

He closed his eyes and took another sip of his tea. Ladybug went back to chewing her bottom lip in the sudden onslaught of renewed anxiety. Not only had her recklessness gotten Chat Noir changed into a cat, but it was maybe the reason he hadn’t been changed back. She had _really_ screwed up.

 

“Everything else was set right?” asked Master Fu, eyes still closed.

 

“Yes,” said Ladybug, nodding. “As far as I could tell, everything was fixed except for Chat Noir’s transformation.”

 

Master Fu hummed again.

 

“Most peculiar,” he spoke lowly as if more to himself. He set down his teacup and looked across the table at Ladybug. “What did the akuma say when he was changed?”

 

“Um,” Ladybug frowned, trying to remember exactly. “She called herself ‘Protectrice’. She was upset that people would abandon their pets.”

 

“The _human_ was upset that people would abandon their pets,” reminded Master Fu. “The akuma was there to take your miraculous.”

 

“Right,” stammered Ladybug in embarrassment.

 

She was usually the one to remind others that the people who were akumatized were not guilty of their actions, but were in fact victims themselves. She had only meant to bring up the theme of the attack as she tried to recall what was said right when Chat had been changed. She _had_ been a bit distracted by the fact that Chat had been turned into a kitten at the time.

 

Perhaps the theme of the attack wasn’t what was important! Chat wasn’t the only one who had been turned into a cat, perhaps the relation between himself and what he was turned into was only coincidence. Ladybug closed her eyes and tried to think back to the day, tried to recall what had been said.

 

“Oh!” said Ladybug, eyes popping open. “She said that now he would know what it felt like to be abandoned; to be lonely and lost. She said he would be a stray on the streets for the rest of his life! Wi... will he? Be... a cat for the... _rest_ of his life?”

 

Master Fu steepled his fingers together and rested his forehead against them. He closed his eyes. He almost looked as if meditating.

 

Ladybug sat silently, but her heart was racing in her chest. Had her carelessness cursed Chat to be an actual cat for the rest of his life? Oh, poor sweet, brave Chaton. How would she live with herself if that were true?

 

After a few excruciating moments, Master Fu finally opened his eyes once again and looked to Ladybug. She held her breath.

 

“Where is Chat Noir, now?” he asked.

 

“He’s staying with m… Marinette,” answered Ladybug.

 

“Does he know your identity?” asked Master Fu.

 

“N--not yet, but it’s getting a bit hard to keep it from him,” said Ladybug. _And I don’t really want to_ , she said in her mind.

 

“A number of truths may need to come to light through this experience,” spoke Master Fu somewhat vaguely before rising and gesturing with his hand as if to see Ladybug to the door.

 

Ladybug stood.

 

“What about Chat?” she asked.

 

“I believe that so long as what the akuma said about him remains true, he will remain a cat,” explained Master Fu. “Now, I have an appointment to keep.”

 

Ladybug allowed him to herd her to the door, but her mind was reeling. What did he mean?

 

“So, what should I do?” asked Ladybug.

 

Master Fu opened the door for her.

 

“Make it untrue,” said Master Fu, simply.

 

Ladybug’s brow furrowed at that, but she stepped out of the room as prompted. There was a middle-aged man sitting just outside the room, hunched over as if his back were in a lot of pain. His eyes widened when he saw her. She smiled awkwardly.

 

“Ah, Monsieur Lambert,” spoke Master Fu. “Come in.”

 

The man struggled to stand and follow Master Fu. Ladybug let out a deep breath and walked out into the street.

 

“It’s Ladybug!” exclaimed someone excitedly.

 

Ladybug flashed a weak smile and wave before tossing her yo-yo and flying off to the rooftops.

 

\-------

 

It felt ridiculous to show up at her bedroom as Ladybug and pretend she wasn’t also Marinette, but it seemed the only option in the current situation. So, Ladybug landed on her own rooftop, pretended to fiddle with window as if she were unfamiliar with it, before finally opening it and dropping silently into her room. Chat Noir was sitting in a patch of sunlight on the chaise, he seemed bored and lonely, though he perked up completely at her sudden appearance.

 

“Chat,” she whispered in greeting. “Where’s Marinette? ...er, sorry.”

 

She felt like such a dirty liar as she said it, and when she knew full-well that he couldn’t respond to her, too. It was all a show on her part and soon he would know it --if he didn’t already! What if he had already figured it out through all this, but just couldn’t say so? _Gosh,_ Ladybug felt like such a heel!  

 

“We really need to figure out a way to communicate better,” she said as she approached Chat who was pacing the length of the chaise as if excited to see her, but not in a hurry to jump down. Was it so difficult to jump up onto it in his miniscule size that he didn’t want to jump down unless he had to? He really was so very small. He probably hated being so small even more than being an actual feline.

 

Ladybug sat down on the chaise. Chat moved quickly to press up against her side.

“How are you doing?” she asked, still aware that he couldn’t answer in words.

 

Chat let out a small ‘meow’ and pressed his head against her hand. If he were a regular cat, she’d assume he was asking for pets, but he was a human boy and… well… okay, it was _Chat_ … he _was_ probably asking for pets. Ladybug let out a slightly undignified snort of laughter at that and went about petting from his head down his back.

 

“So, I went to see Master Fu,” she said as she continued petting him. “He didn’t seem as concerned about the situation as I expected him to be, so I’m assuming that it hopefully means everything will turn out alright. Or… at least… that’s what I’m hoping.”

 

“He said he knew something was wrong because he could sense your kwami was trapped in some sort of stasis. I guess that’s because you were in Chat Noir form when you were transformed.”

 

Chat the kitten was purring and pressing into her hands. She hoped he was paying attention to what she was saying. He seemed much too cat-like for her liking. She needed to know that Chat Noir was still in that tiny little body.

 

“Chat,” she said, stilling her hand. Chat the kitten sat back on his haunches and looked up at her with his bright green eyes that looked almost comically big in his little black face. “Chat, I need to know you’re paying attention. I need your help on this because Master Fu was being--” Ladybug paused to let out a frustrated huff. “He said ‘ _as long as what the akuma said about him remains true, he will remain a cat_ ’. So, I asked him what to do and he said ‘ _make it untrue_ ’. What does that even mean? Make what untrue? What did the akuma say about you that was true?” Ladybug stared up at the window with furrowed brows, thinking. “And if it’s true, how does someone make it suddenly untrue? That… doesn’t make sense.”

 

Little, pinprick claws on soft, padded paws grabbed at her hand. Ladybug looked down at Chat. He was pulling at her hand and head bunting her wrist as if trying to get her to go back to petting him. Ladybug let out a huff and did so. His kitten fur looked so very soft that she wished she could feel it against the skin of her hands.

 

“This is all my fault,” she said, shoulders slumping. “I’m so sorry Chat. It isn’t like me to leap without looking. I really messed up and now you’re paying for it. Not only are you stuck a cat, but this is probably really messing up your life. Are your friends or family worrying about you right now? What if you end up becoming a missing person before we get you turned back into yourself? What if your face is plastered all over the news and your family puts up a reward for your return? What will you tell everyone when we do finally get you back to yourself?”

 

Ladybug felt like she was going to have a panic attack as she spoke. Her chest was tightening and her head was feeling light. It wasn’t right; she was supposed to feel strong and in control when she was Ladybug. It was the best part of being Ladybug. Right then, though, she felt more like Marinette.

 

Chat meowed at her and climbed into her lap. He pawed at her, staring up at her face and meowing a few more times. Ladybug smiled a small miserable smile. She sniffed, feeling tears nearing the surface. It was true, the best part of being Ladybug was the strength she felt when she was her. She felt strong and courageous like she could take on anything. Yes, there had been many, many times when she felt a touch overwhelmed. There had been many times in battle where she had felt afraid, where she had worried whether she would be fast enough or smart enough, but she had always had Chat Noir at her side and together they always made it through. So, perhaps it was having Chat Noir at her side that was really the best part of being Ladybug.

 

“What if there’s another akuma attack before you’re changed back?” she whispered, throat feeling tight. “I can’t do this without you, Chaton.”

 

“Marinette?” called her mother from downstairs.

 

Ladybug tensed.

 

“I better go,” she whispered to Chat. He was rubbing his head on her and purring more loudly than she would have expected such a small kitten able to pur. She leaned down and kissed the top of his head before she could think better of it.

 

She gently picked him up off her lap and set him on the chaise before standing.

 

“See you soon, Chaton,” she spoke in a hushed voice, before leaving Marinette’s room.

 

She glanced back as she climbed out onto the room. Chat was standing on the chaise where she had placed him, watching her with his big, green eyes. As adorable as the little kitten was, she really wished it was Chat’s masked face complete with goofy smile that those big, green eyes were watching her from. She turned and tossed her yo-yo before leaping from the building.

 

Ladybug ducked into a nearby alley once she landed on the street. She would detransform and run back to the bakery as Marinette, arrive hopefully before he mom went up into her room and found Chat, and pretend she had been out to see Arya or something. She’d tell Chat she had been working in the bakery all morning so he wouldn’t wonder why she was gone.

 

Augh, the lies… so many lies.


	5. Communication

It wasn’t long after Ladybug had left that Marinette returned, but time seemed to drag for Chat Noir with nothing to do and no one around. To make matters worse, the longer he was in cat form, the less and less the concept of time itself seemed to make sense to him. In any case, he had found a patch of sunlight to lay in and had been dozing his boredom away when she arrived.  It was lonely stuck in her room with no one to talk to -- sadly, it was only slightly less lonely in her room when she was there.

 

"Good morning, Chat," spoke Marinette before placing another dish on the chaise. "Sorry for the late breakfast, I... uh... got tied up down in the bakery."

 

Chat quickly rolled to his feet and trotted the few steps to the dish. He gave the food she had set out a dainty sniff. His stomach growled in anticipation.

 

“I’ll go out to the pet store a few blocks from here and actually get you some proper cat food today,” spoke Marinette apologetically. “I’m not sure how this all works with you in cat form, but I don’t want to give your little stomach any problems.”

 

Chat barely paid attention to what she was saying, he was much more focused on the food he was eating. He wasn’t even sure what it was, only that it smelled divine. He probably would have recognized it right away in his human form, but everything was feeling a lot more simplified lately. 

 

When the food was gone, dish licked clean, and Chat’s stomach comfortably full, he finally looked up. Marinette was sitting primly on the chaise next to him, not completely unlike how Ladybug was sitting there earlier. Chat felt the ghost of a rumble begin to build deep in his chest now that he had eaten. The sudden urge to be petted filled him and was so strong that he didn’t even think about how he would act as a human, didn’t worry about social cues and personal spaces. Chat slunk over to Marinette and butted his head against her thigh before climbing up into her lap and letting that building rumble in his chest come out in the form of a soft purr.

 

“Are you asking me to pet you?” asked Marinette in a voice that sounded a bit off, but Chat didn’t worry to analyse it. He simply butted his head against her stomach and purred a touch louder. There was a strained giggle and then sweet, soft fingers began to stroke gently through his fur.  _ Yeesss _ . 

 

Chat let his purr rumble out stronger as he pressed his back against her petting hand, turning and twisting to try to get the feel of her fingers on every inch of his back and sides. Any remaining thoughts and worries in his mind floated away as he closed his eyes and purred. He had been stressing over how they’d find a way to turn him back into a human, had been stressing over the fact that it was seeming less and less likely he  _ would _ turn back the more cat-like his mind became. Now... now he was busy enjoying Marinette’s hand in his fur. This was much nicer than worrying about what would happen come Monday should he not be back to himself, or what Ladybug would do if there was an akuma attack and he wasn’t able to help.

 

The glorious petting came to an end much too soon. Chat let out a small mew of dissent when Marinette took her wonderful hand away. He hopped down from her lap when it became obvious she was about to stand. He moved over to the end of the chaise, planning to sit with his back to her and have a truly epic pout.

 

“We should check the ladyblog,” Marinette spoke as she stood, “to make sure there’s no talk about what’s happened to you.”

 

Chat paused, front paw still in the air. 

 

_ Finally _ . This was his chance. 

 

He leapt down onto the floor and followed on her heels to her desk. When she sat down on her chair, he gave a great leap onto her lap. Not quite making it, he held on to her leg with his front claws and pushed with his back legs to get up.

 

"Ouch,” exclaimed Marinette, jolting and almost causing Chat to lose his grip. "Chat, what..."

 

Not dissuaded, but frustrated not for the first time that he had been turned into a kitten and not at least a full-grown cat, Chat finished climbing onto her lap. Then he jumped from her lap onto the desk and batted her hands away from the keyboard. Finally, he would have a voice! Chat peered up at the computer screen. It was hard to understand what he was looking at, the light shining in his eyes seeming more like fuzzy light than actual image. 

 

He squinted at the computer screen for a few beats before what he was seeing began to make sense. The web browser was open and it seemed Marinette had been about to type the url into the address bar. That would have to suffice.

 

Chat glanced down over the keyboard for a moment. His knowledge of where each key was located had become more muscle memory than cognitive over the years which wouldn’t be all that helpful with paws instead of hands. He glanced over the keys a touch longer while trying to decide just what he would say first. And then, finally and with great purpose, Chat reached out with his right paw and pressed the letter L. 

 

He could hear Marinette’s sharp intake of breath behind him. He pressed the key above and to the left of the first. Glad that Marinette had sat back and was allowing him to work. The task was quickly proving to be rather time consuming in his current form. Chat took two steps to the left and reached out his paw to carefully press the S. 

 

"Losing?" asked Marinette once Chat had completed the first word. "Losing what?"

 

_ Losing what _ , indeed. _ Losing my human consciousness? Losing myself to the cat?  _  With how excruciatingly long it took just to write the one word, Chat realized he'd have to keep anything he typed brief and to the point. He narrowed his eyes at the keys and reached out again with his paw.

 

"Me?" read out Marinette a moment later. " _ Losing me _ ? I'm losing you? What do you mean? Losing you how? Are you leaving... no. Losing... losing me... losing me... umm"

 

Chat let out a frustrated sigh. Okay maybe not quite so brief. He reached for the A on the keyboard and slowly typed out two more words. 

 

"All cat?" read Marinette after another ridiculously long ordeal of one-paw typing. "Losing me. All cat."

 

Chat turned around on the keyboard to look up at Marinette’s face. 

 

"You're becoming more and more cat?” she asked. “Your mind?" 

 

Chat meowed. Marinette inhaled sharply. 

 

"Oh," she breathed. "Oh no. This... this is not good. This… this… How much time do we have?"

 

Chat sat back on his haunches and did an approximation of a shrug. The great thing --or perhaps most terrible thing about becoming more and more cat-minded, was that the alarm he should be feeling about it just wasn’t there. He had moments of clarity where he was absolutely upset by it, but increasingly, he was just  _ too cat _ to worry about being _ too cat _ . 

 

“Okay,” said Marinette, “okay, so at least we can communicate this way -- at least for now. Augh! How long until you won’t be able to type? How long until you don’t even know you’re Chat Noir at all? This is awful. Umm, okay… so what about your family? Are they looking for you right now?”

 

Chat meowed twice for ‘no’, just like Marinette had proposed the night before. Then, he turned back to the keyboard and slowly typed out a better response.

 

“Okay until Sunday night,” read aloud Marinette. “Okay, that’s… good. That gives us... another  _ day _ to figure this out. AUGH! We  _ have _ to figure this out! And we have only a day… and that’s  _ if  _ you can stay Chat Noir in your mind that long.”

 

Chat narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw in determination. He would stay cognizant, he wouldn’t let the feline cloud his mind with kitten thoughts. He would remain vigilant. He would… keep using big words like cognizant and vigilant in his mind and stave off the simplicity of the cat no matter how tempting it was at times.

 

“How can I help you keep your mind?” asked Marinette in a whisper.

 

Chat thought for a moment. How  _ could _ they keep him aware? Interaction seemed to make the most sense as a way to keep him thinking, but even when Marinette talked to him his mind would sometimes grow fuzzy and his attention would wane.

 

“Chat,” said Marinette, her sudden shift in tone catching his attention. She had a nervous frown on her face. “Do… this might sound strange, but… do… do you know who Ladybug is?”

 

It was a strange enough question, at least given its timing, that it snapped Chat’s focus back to her. When had his mind drifted? He had just been pondering how to keep his mind from drifting and then… had time passed? Chat blinked up at Marinette from her desk. Ladybug, she had wanted to know if he knew Ladybug outside of her mask. Interesting. What did the civilian citizens think about his and Ladybug’s relationship, anyway? He had read some of Alya’s theories on the Ladyblog before. Ah, the Ladyblog, Marinette had been planning to check the Ladyblog before he’d hijacked her keyboard. Chat turned to the monitor and, yes, time must have passed while he had gone kitty because she had the Ladyblog up on the screen and had been scrolling through recent news posts.

 

“Chat?” prompted Marinette sounding nervous. 

 

Chat swung his head back around to blink up at Marinette again. Her big blue eyes looked full of some sort of emotion. Was that emotion hard to decipher because he was a cat or was it just hard to decipher? Chat let out a little meow.

 

“Yes?” asked Marinette, her face suddenly going pale. “You know who Ladybug is? You know th--”

 

Chat quickly meowed twice. No, he had no idea.  _ Gosh _ , he wish he did. He wished that they knew each other, that they were friends outside their masks, that they knew each other and could confide in each other. Life was so lonely when you had a secret identity. 

 

“Umm,” spoke Marinette, taking a big breath. 

 

She looked unsure and a little frightened. Chat understood the confusion, but why the fear? He needed to make sure he was crystal clear. He batted her hands away from the keyboard again and went back to work slowly typing out a response. 

 

“No. Do not know Ladybug’s identity,” read Marinette aloud as Chat typed it. It took an excruciatingly long time, but he reasoned that if Marinette was willing to be patient that it was probably good for him. Having to answer questions and to think about typing out each word definitely seemed to help him stay engaged. But how long did he even have before he forgot how to spell words?

 

“Okay,” said Marinette. “Okay, I just... umm... wondered. It’s… uh… good for me to have all the facts, right? In order to help you.”

 

She seemed oddly nervous, but Chat decided not to think anything of it. The situation they were in was strange and definitely cause for anxiety, plus he could remember that she often had moments of nervous stuttering around him when he was Adrien. Chat went back to typing into the navigation bar.

 

“Ask more questions,” read Marinette slowly. 

 

“Ask more questions?” she repeated, ironically, _ as _ a question. Of course, Chat wasn’t able to point that out, nor was he able to take advantage of pun opportunities. It was all rather frustration. “Why? What kind of questions?”

 

_ It helps _ , typed Chat before trying to point at his head with his paw. Marinette giggled but quickly covered her mouth.

 

“Sorry,” she was quick to say. “I definitely don’t want to make light of our situation but…” she trailed off and smiled sadly. ”So, having to type out answers is helping you?” she said instead. “That makes sense. Here, if we’re going to have a conversation this way, we might as well open up a proper text document instead of using the navigation bar.”

 

Chat mewed in agreement as Marinette clicked with the mouse. He suddenly was awash with gratitude that it was Marinette whom Ladybug chose to leave him with and not some other person. Marinette was smart and kind. Nino was his friend (though he didn’t know Chat Noir), and was smart and kind, too, but Marinette was much more thoughtful and gentle. Alya was smart and good at solving puzzles, but she likely would be over the moon at how “juicy” the whole situation was. She probably would be trying to get as much information out of him as she could. Marinette, on the other hand, was sympathetic, but not in a pitying way. She… she cared. Really, besides Ladybug herself, he couldn’t think of anyone better suited for this ridiculous, frustrating, and admittedly frightening situation than Marinette.

 

“Okay,” said Marinette, humming thoughtfully. “What should I ask you.”

“Do you have any idea why you’re stuck as a kitten or how you can change back?” she asked. 

 

Chat tilted his head and thought for a moment. When Ladybug had stopped by after meeting with Master Fu, she had said something about what Protectrice had said about him when she turned him being true. What had she said?  He had taken note of it because it had hit so close to home. Then the words came back to him with a sharp twang in his chest; Lonely. Abandoned. Lost. Chat let his ears droop a little. How could they possibly make those words untrue in a day? 

 

There really was no way to answer that question without telling her about Master Fu or making himself seem really pathetic. Besides, Chat really had no idea how they  _ could _ use that information to turn him back, anyway. He let out two mews to say no. 

 

“Drat,” sighed Marinette, leaning back in her chair. “I was hoping you had an idea, but just hadn’t been able to voice it.”

 

Chat felt a little guilty. She wanted to help so badly, but even though he didn’t know how she could by knowing the truth, he felt bad lying. He let out a little sigh before reaching for the keyboard with his little paws. 

 

“New topic,” read Marinette. 

 

“Okay, ummm, maybe something lighter?” she offered with a small smile.

 

Chat let out a single meow.

 

“Uhh, what is your favourite colour?” she asked sounding unsure.

 

Chat huffed a laugh before reaching out with his paw to type.

 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [A Chat Pet](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13657971) by [Khorevis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khorevis/pseuds/Khorevis)




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